In Maharashtra, a big question after the recent elections is: *Who will be the Chief Minister (CM)?* While leaders say things like, “It doesn’t matter who becomes CM,” the truth is that the *numbers* tell a different story.
The BJP (a major political party) won far more seats than its allies, like Shiv Sena and the NCP. The BJP got 132 seats—just 13 short of forming a government by itself—while Shiv Sena got 57 and the NCP got 41. This makes it clear: the BJP is in a much stronger position, so it’s very likely that the next CM will be from their party.
In the past, politics in Maharashtra has been unpredictable. For example, Devendra Fadnavis, a BJP leader, was the first CM in a long time to finish a full five-year term. However, the idea of “rotating” the CM role between two parties hasn’t worked well. In other states like Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, BJP allies didn’t always keep their promises about sharing the CM position, which caused problems.
Some people think Eknath Shinde, a leader from Shiv Sena, could still be CM because he has strong support among Marathas and has promoted popular schemes like *Ladki Bahin*. However, Shiv Sena’s smaller number of seats makes this less likely. Back in 2019, Uddhav Thackeray, another Shiv Sena leader, left his alliance with the BJP because they wouldn’t let him be CM. In 2022, Shinde got the CM position because the BJP needed Shiv Sena’s support at the time.
Now, though, things are different. The BJP is so strong that it doesn’t need Shiv Sena as much anymore. So, the decision about who will be CM will likely depend on what the BJP wants.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
END OF ARTICLE
